In The Words of Asher Roth

Lately I have been racking my brain in an attempt to figure out a consistent theme I could write on and until last night I couldn’t come up with anything worth while. I’ve always been told that you should write about what you know but I would contest I really only know about working at Kroger/Starbucks and college life. Well that and women.  So, that made it an easy decision.

The more I think about “college” as a theme for at least my posts in the blog, the more I like it.  I have a fairly entertaining life and have more than a few stories I could tell. Expect to see some nice stock photos of my campus as well as day to day tails of a Junior attending a Midwest University. While you all wait in what I’m sure is intense anticipation for my next post I will leave you with a line from Asher Roth’s I love college: “Where I can get pizza a dollar a slice.”

John Bolton writes on arms control.

I can see where he’s coming from, and that’s comforting, but I still don’t agree.

…U.S. nuclear capabilities provide a deterrence umbrella for its allied countries, whereas Russia plays no such positive role. Thus, the two countries are simply not “symmetrical,” but treaties with specific warhead limits gave the illusion they are.

Thing is, Russia’s domestic leadership wants strategic symmetry. It needs strategic symmetry like our last president needed low casualty figures out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Medvedev et al has to convince the population that things are getting back on track to the good ol’ days of the early 1970s. These good ol’ days include the Cold War, or at least when Russia’s opinion mattered everywhere and anywhere on the world stage, from Afghanistan to Central America. At the end of the day, it’s just posturing – the USSR is gone and its true strategic successor probably won’t be back for a while. (Note: that doesn’t mean that you can totally ignore Russia, either – do that, and you’re in for trouble.) But it’s posturing that Russian leaders desperately need, especially when the economy – the other prime mover for domestic credibility – is tanking.

how we “count” nuclear capabilities is important. This is not a merely technical issue, but carries profound implications for both our nuclear and conventional capabilities. Under START counting rules, weapons levels were imputed based on the capabilities of delivery systems, rather than actual warhead levels. Thus, for example, each Soviet SS-18, capable of carrying 10 nuclear warheads was imputed to do so no matter how many were actually under the nosecones.

…and what better way for Russia to get symmetrical with the US than to engineer it out of thin air in an arms control agreement? It looks good for the press whether it’s real or not, bilateral negotiations themselves look good for the Russian media, and most of said Russian media is owned by Gazprom and/or government-controlled. (Two ways to say the same thing, actually).

Again: this would be great for the Russian leadership during an economic crisis. Strategic parity without buying any new missiles. And if the Russian leadership decides they want it badly enough, they could make something like the transit of NATO troops/supply into Afghanistan contingent upon it. They would never cut it off entirely – it looks really bad, and Russia really wants to do all it can to keep the Taliban types out of Kazakhstan and the Caucuses. They want NATO to win, in other words. But they could threaten it, and there could still be a lot of very public brouhaha and brinksmanship over the issue. It’d be very bad for Obama.

Obama: Let us run supplies through Uzbekistan/Kyrgyzstan/wherever into Afghanistan. Pretty please. Please.
Putin: Maybe. Maybe if you count our nukes the way we want them counted. And maybe I’ll leak this whole conversation to CNN and let the whole world know that I have you by the balls. And then I’ll give you what you want, but only after you give me what I want. You’ll depend on me for something important, and everyone will know that. I also don’t expect your news media to be able to credibly explain warhead counting and missile counting and multiple-independently-targetable this and that. They haven’t even gotten around to explaining what a credit derivative is yet, and that crisis is six months old. Anyway, you need access to Afghanistan way more than I need this notch in my domestic political bedpost. That doesn’t mean I don’t really really want it (but there’s a difference between ‘want’ and ‘need’ here).

Obama looks weak. Putin looks strong. The alternative route would be to give the ’stan in question a ton of money. That might not work either, given the Manas Air Base fiasco there is likely to be a great deal of reluctance. And Russia has some non-monetary bargaining advantages with the ’stan in such a scenario, contiguous borders, transit links and all that. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but I don’t think it’d be the best option. It certainly wouldn’t be the cheapest. Again: the economy.

And at the end of the day it’d be better off to let the Russians count their warheads in whatever reasonable fashion they require. Let them reap the domestic political benefits so that we can both reduce our stockpiles and go home. It’s less expensive for US taxpayers that way – why piss off the Republicans in Congress any more than you have to? And again, Bolton doesn’t seem to get that – the fact that domestic and international politics are never walled off from one another.

The Obama arms control agenda reflects the longstanding, attractive and woefully simplistic notion that ever-lower numbers of Russian and American nuclear weapons will create a more stable strategic relationship, diminishing the threat of nuclear war.

Domestic. Politics. Nuke development, maintenance, and security is really expensive. It’s money that both countries could be putting to far better use right now. I think they both get that. And that’s why you will get ‘arms control’, which is actually more like “let’s sit around this table and posture for secondary political gains while we negotiate for something we both need.” Which is actually what it’s always been between these two countries, if you go back and look at the history. The really contentious issues are rarely about the weapons themselves.

Also, Bolton’s a prick. I hope everyone understands that. But he’s former ambassador to the UN and all that. What the hell do I know?

Sweetness

I was reading Defamer today and realized that being payed to write for a blog is maybe the best job ever.  ”Oh I live in NYC and get paid to write about stuff I actually find interesting.” So in that vain I think I am going to start writing here again. We are just going to pretend that I get paid to write about stuff I like. The ultimate goal is fine tuning the (blank) Triumvirate to be on point with Gawker media blogs, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Сейчас, мне надо говорить по–русски много чём мне нравиться.

Or: I have to speak in Russian more than I would like now.

But that’s what I signed up for. And everyone else seems to be just as – blindsided, that’s the only word for it – as I am, so everything’s okay. For now, anyway.

I have a coffeemaker in my room now. This could get ugly before it’s over.

Do you like the Pilot G2, but not its retail price? Then this is the place to go. I haven’t received my order yet – so hopefully I didn’t get ripped off – but judging from the seller’s feedback, we should be okay.

Back to flashcards.

…and it’s taking away from my sanity

Someone out there has too much time on their hands.

Like me!

( 1/2 )( your age ) + 7

I’m very entertained by this. Thanks, Wikipedia.

So, I’m back at school, and moved in. West Quadrangle. Cambridge House. The security on this place is a little odd – you need a key to use the elevator or to get onto any floor from the staircase – but I don’t mind so much. It prevents large crowds of people from wandering through the halls yelling at the top of their lungs at all hours of the day and night, or dragging around trash bags filled with bottles and cans, or setting off fireworks in the lounge.

Yeah, all of those things happened last year. I’m pleased to be rid of them. I haven’t had a chance to sample the food here yet, so I’ll be sure to report back on that. (As though anyone is interested.)

New room has a big window facing into the courtyard – which has trees, and grass, unlike last year’s absolutely craptacular view of the roof. Other than that the place looks a bit like mission control, albeit with green carpet; if LCD displays were a decor element, I’d be featured in Better Homes and Gardens. Just the way we like it round here.

I hope the neighbors don’t mind the subwoofer too much.

I’ve ventured out into town a good bit since I’ve arrived, but I can’t bring myself to stay out for too long. The streets are still swamped with crowds of people, and the entire city seems to be in a state of barely-controlled chaos. I don’t feel comfortable in it – it’s not as though it’s unsafe – but it’s not my style. I don’t like clubs or loud restaurants for much the same reasons – too little control, too much noise, too much to keep track of and pay attention to. Sensory overload.

It’s the first Saturday, the day of the football game, after the whole of campus has just finished moving in. It’s bound to be chaotic. I shouldn’t expect anything less, and things will have slowed down considerably even by tomorrow.

This room has a dearth of lightbulbs. And maps. I can always use more maps. I need to brush up on Russian as well.

That’s all for now. I’ll have a lot to write about in the next few weeks, although I may not have too much time to write about it. Всего хорошего.

Sunburn.

Damn, I’m white. Or pink, now.

Went to the car show today. Exhibitor’s tag nets you the free-food VIP treatment, which is obviously superior to the $5 hot dog tent.

It was a reasonably productive weekend.

In other news, I’ve been looking at relatively inexpensive laptops. I say ‘relatively’ since my budget has slowly increased by about $250 from Asus EEE 2G levels. I don’t see the point in dropping three bills on something that won’t run Microsoft Office and has a barely usable keyboard. And when a really decent ‘netbook’ prices in well north of $600 (hp 2133, anyone?) I really begin to question the point of the entire concept. Give me something I can use, with a real keyboard and touchpad, and nice battery life.

So, the Dell D420 is looking pretty good right now. Throw in a hot coupon code and I’m game.

The History Channel is having a show on Nazism in the United States. It’s pretty interesting, and pretty shocking. Alan Berg, the Turner Diaries, et al. I had no idea about most of this shit. And it’s pretty frightening, enraging, the whole bit. Acutely unpleasant, as a general rule.

Work is work, and it is good. I was stuck in section 24 all last week. 35 is the next big one, and then we’re done.

I need to pick up some Jefferson Airplane. Janis Joplin would be nice too.

(I heard the news today, oh boy)

So. I like my job, so far at least. It’s not like anything I’ve done before. Inventory parts, photograph parts, run shipping on parts, list parts, double-check listed parts, rinse, repeat. It’s money – pretty good money, actually. I’m always busy while I’m there. And I don’t feel any need to gun the car out onto Baldwin when it’s time to go home. I could complain about having to lick the contacts on the camera’s SD card to get it to work, but that’s really just humorous. It’s work. It’s money. And it’s somewhere to go every day and do something – anything – and feel like part of society.

It’s nice.

I’m tired of politics. That’s about all I have to say there.

Hockey is nice. I like the sport, I like the physical exercise and the occasional feeling of accomplishment. It does enrage me at times, and while this is an unpleasant experience, it improves me play, and doesn’t follow me off the pavement. And that’s probably the best I can ask for.

Things are alright. And again, that’s probably the best I can ask for right now. That and a bangable redhead, but I think we can all gauge the probability of that occurrence.

You ain’t a pimp and you ain’t a hustler
A pimp’s got a Caddy and a lady got a Chrysler
Black’s got respect, and white’s got his soul train
Mama’s got cramps, and look at your hands ache

…all night.

Sedan Delivery

It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out.

Yes, I’m aware that no one has any idea what I’m talking about. But I’m fucking stoked. Suffice it to say that my days of moping about this may be over.

Hopefully. Maybe. We’ll see. If it works out. I’m feeling good vibes, though.

Sedan delivery is a job I know I’ll keep
It sure was hard to find!

It feels like Mr. Young has been singing about my life for the last month or so. I bloody well hope that’s about to change.

Hard to find a job!

I went down Virginia, seeking shelter from the storm…

So, no job for moi. I’m sure everyone is tired of hearing about it. So am I. I’ve pretty much defaulted to selling shit on eBay for the rest of the summer. God knows I have some excess built up around here. The work is interesting enough, and it keeps me out of my own head. That’s the most important thing.

eBay, and politics. My family has fallen prey to the election year, it seems – a chorus of voices emanates from the living room every time Hardball is on, often including my own. I park in the recliner in front of the television, jump between the cable news channels, and write listings. It won’t put my finances anywhere near what a job would, but it’s income. It could be a lot worse. For one, I could have not snagged that Altec driver off the Ann Arbor craigslist three months ago. Then I’d really be in a world of shit.

All this free time and e-commerce shit has provided me numerous opportunities to hone my photography skills. I’m especially proud of this one:



Click for a bigger version, that puny scaled-down thing really doesn’t do it justice. Just check the color balance on that! Those contrast ratios are my kind of thing.

Really, you can do wonders with a decent digital camera, a tripod, and a little bit of Photoshop (but not too much). Really, I wonder why more people don’t go that route. You’re not going to sell that McIntosh with a cell-phone photo.

But anyway, regarding eBay: the economy’s in a bit of a nosedive, but people still seem to buy shit there. I guess it’s the tax rebate, or something. I don’t know.

Five-year plans and new deals, wrapped in golden chains…